Ventilating and heating apparatus



28, 1933- w. F. HIRSCHMAN VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1931 1933- w. F. HIRSCHMAN VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS Filed June 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 NOV. 28, 1933. w F H|RSCHMAN VENTILATING AND HEATING APPARATUS Filed June 5, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 28 1 933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a ventilator and heater and has the object to provide a simple, efiicient and inexpensive apparatus whereby air may be either expelled from a room, drawn into the same or circulated-therein, either at normal temperature or in an artificially heated condition; and to so organize this apparatus that the same may be either installed in a definite location in the building or transported readily from one place to another as desired.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a satisfactory embodiment of my invention mounted in an opening in a building.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same taken on line 33, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the same taken on line 4-4, Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section taken on line 5-5, Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 6-6, Fig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the ventilator reversed and the heater omitted and mounted in the opening of a building wall so as to discharge air from the inside of the building to the exterio of the same.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation showing the portability of this apparatus.

Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary sectional views showing means for mounting this apparatus on a glass pane and the wooden sash of a window, respectively.

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Although this heating and ventilating apparatus is capable of utilization in various ways the particular organization andinstallation thereof which is shown in Figs. 1-6 is such that the same may be utilized for circulating the air in a room, or drawing fresh air from the exterior of the building into the room, and also heating this internal and external air if desired. When thus organized the ventilating and heating apparatus is constructed as follows: 7

The numeral 10 represents the wall of a building which in-the present instance is assumed to be the outer wall thereof which contains an opening 11 in which is arranged a horizontal flue 12 of sheet metal or the like and opening at its outer end to the exterior of the building and opening at its inner end into the interior of the building, and is preferably made telescopic so that it can be adjusted lengthwise to fit walls of different thicknesses.

This flue is adapted to be opened and closed when desired by a. closure or shutter mechanism which may be of any suitable construction, that town in the drawings, as an example, comprising a plurality of vertically swinging louvers 13 which are pivoted at their opposite ends on the side walls of the flue by means of pintles or hinges 14, a coupling bar 15 pivotally connected with arms 16 projecting inwardly from the several louvers, a horizontal rock shaft 1'7 journaled transversely in bearings in the inner part of the flue and provided within the flue with a crank 18 and on one side of the flue with an operating arm 19, and a connecting bar or rod 20 connecting said crank 18 with the arm 16 of one of the louvers.

Upon moving the operating arm 19 in one direction the louvers are moved in the direction in which they will engage with one another and thereby form a closure across the outer end of the flue 12, as shown by full lines in Fig. 3, and upon moving this operating arm in the opposite direction these .louvers may be swung into a more or less open position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby placing the interior of the building or room in communication with the outer atmosphere and enabling air to be either discharged from the room to the outer atmosphere or drawn from the outer atmosphere into the building or room as desired.

, Upon the inner end of the flue 12 a ventilator is adapted to be mounted which embodies one feature of this invention. This ventilator in the present instance comprises a housing or casing forming a horizontal conduit, which housing or casing has an imperforate or solid section 22 at one end thereof and a foraminoussection 23 at the opposite end thereof, said imperforate section being preferably constructed of sheet metal and of rectangular form in cross section to correspond with the rectangular cross section of the fine 12, and the foraminous section 23 being preferably constructed of panels of woven wire of suitable mesh.

Means are provided for detachably connecting either end of this casing of the ventilator with the inner end of the main ventilating fine 12, which coupling means in the preferred construction consist of upright channels 24, 241 arranged on the opposite vertical edges of the front and rear ends of the ventilator casing, and have their concave sides facing inwardly and adapted to engage with upright flanges 25 projecting outwardly from the opposite vertical edges at the inner end of the main flue 12, as best shown in Fig. 4.

The downward movement of the ventilator casing relative to the main flue 12 is limited so that the same will be supported in a position in which this casing is held in register with the main flue by means of hooks or channel shaped stops 26, 27 arranged horizontally and transversely at the opposite ends of the top of this casing, and either one of which may be engaged over an upwardly projecting flange 28 arranged horizontally and transversely on the upper edge of the inner end of the main flue 12.

In its lowermost position the casing of the ventilator also rests either at one end 21 or the other end 211 of its bottom 212 on a shoulder or ledge 213 formed on the inner end of the bottom of the flue 12.

The panels of the foraminous section of the ventilator housing are adapted to be covered or uncovered by lids 9 pivoted on the outer side of this housing so that the same can be swung into a position in which the foraminous panels are covered, as shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 8, or into a position in which these panels are uncovered, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

- Within the casing of the ventilator is arranged an air propelling device which preferably consists of a rotatable fan 29 having its blades arranged within the imperforate part 22 of the fan casing, and an electric motor 30 which turns this fan constantly in the same direction and is mounted in the opposite end of this fan casing by means of brackets 31 extending from opposite sides of the motor to the inner side of the fan casing where these brackets may be fastened to the casing in any suitable and approved manner so that the frame of the motor and the casing of the ventilator are rigidly connected and immovable relatively to each other. At its upper end the fan casing is provided with a handle 32 whereby the same may be carried from place to place and also conveniently manipulated for reversing the ventilator casing end for end and attaching either its foraminous end or its imperforate end to the inner end of the main ventilating flue 12.

As shownin Figs. 3 and 4 the ventilator has the foraminous end of its casing connected with the flue l2 and the louvers 13 of the latter are closed. It is assumed that the motor at this time will operate the fan 29 so as to move the air longitudinally inward through the fan casing, and under these circumstances air will be drawn from the room through the foraminous casing section 23 into the outer end of the ventilator casing and then discharged through the imperforate inner end of the latter into the room, so that as the fan continues to operate the air in the room continues to be circulated and thereby not only cool the same but maintain uniform temperature conditions throughout that part of the room which is affected by the circulation of the air. If desired the lids 9 may be closed and only the louvers 13 opened so that only air from the exterior of the building is drawn by the fan into the room.

If, while the lids 9 are open, it is desired to add external air to the room at this time the louvers 13 may be opened by means of the operating arm 19 whereby some of the air which is propelled by the fan will be drawn from the external atmosphere through the flue l2 and discharged from the inner end of the imperforate part of the ventilator casing into the room for cooling the air in the latter.

The current for operating the fan may be supplied from any suitable source, for example by means of a cable 33 connected at one end with the motor of the fan and provided at its opposite end with a coupling plug of any suitable character which may be plugged into an electric current supplying socket. Starting and stopping of the fan may be effected by means of a handoperated switch 35 which is accessible from the exterior of the ventilator casing and is arranged in circuit with the motor of the fan.

When the air propelling device is used in the manner described for drawing either external atmosphere into the room or circulating the air within the room, coupling of the ventilator casing with the main flue is effected by sliding the coupling channels 24, 241 on the coupling flanges 25, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

. If desired, parts of the ventilator may be shifted so that the air is withdrawn from the room and discharged through the main flue 12 to the exterior of the room or building, this being accomplished by reversing the ventilator casing and engaging the coupling channels 241 thereof with the coupling flanges 25. In such a reversed position the imperforate part 22 of the ventilator casing will now be at the outer end of the casing and coupled with the inner end of the main flue 12, while the foraminous part 23 of the casing will be at the inner end thereof, but closed by the lids 9, as shown in Fig. 7.

When the parts are thus re-arranged the propeller 29, which will be turned in the same direction by its motor, now draws air from the interior of the room outwardly through the casing of the ventilator and discharges the same through the flue 12 to the exterior of the building, while the louvers 13 are open more or less at this time in accordance with the amount of ventilation desired.

For the purpose of enabling this fan to be used elsewhere in the building for cooling and ventilating purposes when the same is not used in connection with the main flue 12 leading to the outer atmosphere, supporting feet or members 37 are secured to the underside of the housing, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, which permits of supporting the air propelling device on any available surface in a room where it is desired to effect ventilation, cooling or circulation of the air.

In order to enable this apparatus to be used for heating as well as ventilating or circulating the air, air heating means are provided which may be attached to or removed from the air propelling device and thereby eflect heating of the air whenever this is desired. Any suitable heating means may be employed for this purpose and those shown in the drawings are therefore merely an example of one which may be advantageously employed in connection with the present invention. 'As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 these heating means comprise a sheet metal frame 38 of rectangular form in cross section which is provided at its opposite vertical sides with coupling flanges 39 adapted to slide in the inner sides of the coupling channels 241, and a stop flange 40 arranged on the upper horizontal part of the heater frame and engaging with the upper stop hook 27 on the imperforate section 22 of the ventilator casing, and an electric heating element 41 mounted within the heater frame and extending across the area within the. same so that the 159 air which is propelled through the heater frame will be heated by contact with this heating element. The fit of the flanges 39 into the channels 7 27 is sufficiently tight so that these parts will be retained frictionally in an assembled position relatively to each other.

Although this heating element may be variously constructed, that shown in the drawings comprises a plurality of electrical resistance coils which are supported on the upper and lower parts of the heater frame but insulated therefrom by means of insulated supports 42. The extremities of this heating element are adapted to be con nected with the electric circuit of the fan motor when mounting this heater on the ventilator casing and to be disconnected from said circuit when the heater is detached from the ventilator. For this purpose the extremities of the heater element 41 are provided with two contacts 43, 44 which are mounted on the inner side of the lower part of the heater frame and are adapted to engage two sockets 45, 46 which are mounted on the inner side of the imperforate part of the ventilator casing, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, which sockets are connected with the circuit of the motor operating the fan.

Upon mounting the heater on the imperforate end of the ventilator casing the contacts 43, 44 are engaged automatically with the sockets 45 and 46 so as to couple the heater with the same electric source which supplies current to the motor, and when detaching the heater from the air propelling device the contacts 43 and 44 are automatically withdrawn from the sockets 45, 46 so as to disconnect the heater from the current source.

When the electric current is turned on the heater and the latter is mounted on the imperforate end of the ventilator casing, the air which is taken either from the interior of the building or from the exterior thereof and moved past the electrical heating elements will be raised in temperature and thereby heating the atmosphere in the room while the heater is in use.

From the foregoing it will now be apparent that this heating and ventilating apparatus can be used in various parts of the building wherever local heating or ventilating of the air is desired and the same can also be mounted in a fixed position on a part of the building for either expelling air from the building, drawing external air into the same, or circulating air within the room, and also either propelling the air under normal temperature or increasing the temperature of the same, thereby conditioning the air to suit different requirements.

In order to prevent any matter from being drawn from the interior of the building into the fan housing a guard screen 36 of woven wire or the like is arranged transversely across the ventilator casing, preferably at the extremity of the foraminous side wall section 23, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. This screen may be detachably mounted on the outer end of the frame 39 on the 5 electric heater by any suitable means but this is preferably accomplished by mounting this screen on a frame 361 which is provided at its opposite vertical edges and also at its horizontal upper edge with laterally projecting flanges 362 which slidingly and frictionally engage with inwardly opening channels 363 arranged on the upright sides and the horizontal top of the heater frame, as best shown in Figs. 1-4.

When mounting the main flue 12 within a sash 48 of a window or frame, means similar to those shown in Fig. 10 may be employed which comprise two T-shaped clips 49 secured to opposite sides of the wooden frame or sash 48 by means of a bolt 50 and also secured to the flue 12 by means of bolts 51 passing through the clips 49 and longitudinal slots 52 in the flue 12.

Similar means are provided for mounting the main flue 12 within an opening in the glass pane 53 of a window, which means in their preferred form consist of two clips 54 which are drawn by a bolt 55 against intermediate flexible packings 56 of rubber or the like on opposite sides of the glass pane 53, the clips being also connected with the flue 12 by bolts 57 passing through longitudinal slots 58 in this flue, as shown in Fig. 9.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus of the character described, comprising an air conduit the wall of which is imperforate at one end thereof while the opposite end of said wall is foraminous, a device for propelling air through said conduit in one direction, a ventilating flue adapted to be mounted in a wall of a building, said conduit being reversible end for end to permit of attaching either end to the inner end of said flue and causing air to be either drawn into the building or discharged therefrom and means for detachably connecting either end of said conduit with the inner end of said flue.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising an air conduit the wall of which is imperforate at one end thereof while the opposite end of said wall is foraminous, a device for propelling air through said conduit in one direction, a ventilating flue adapted to be mounted in a wall of a building, said conduit being reversible end for end to permit of attaching either end to the inner end of said flue and causing air to be either drawn into the building or discharged therefrom, means for detachably connecting either end of said conduit with the inner end of said flue, and a damper for controlling the passage of air through said flue.

3. An apparatus of the character described comprising an air conduit the wall of which is imperforate at one end thereof while the opposite end of said wall is foraminous, a device for propelling air through said conduit in one direction, a ventilating flue adapted to be mounted in a wall of a building, said conduit being reversible end for end to permit of attaching either end to the inner end of said flue and causing air to be either drawn into the building or discharged therefrom, means for detachably connecting either end of said conduit with the inner end of said flue, and means for heating the air passing through said conduit.

4. An apparatus of the character described comprising a conduit through which air is adapted to pass, an electric fan for propelling air through said conduit, an electrical heater adapted to be detachably mounted on an end of said conduit for heating the air passing through said conduit, and co-operating electric coupling members which are arranged respectively on said electric heater and said conduit and which are adapted to be engaged upon mounting said heater on said conduit for electrically connecting said heater and fan and to be disengaged upon dismounting said heater from said conduit for electrically disconnecting said heater and fan.

WILLIAM F. HIRSCHMAN. 

